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Best Westerns
Those books (fiction and nonfiction) that embody the spirit of the Old West, the heroism, tragedy, and drama of this mythic era of American history.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)
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4.57 avg rating — 226,698 ratings
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| 2 |
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True Grit
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4.17 avg rating — 69,488 ratings
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| 3 |
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Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
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4.16 avg rating — 208,579 ratings
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| 4 |
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All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1)
by
4.06 avg rating — 141,942 ratings
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| 5 |
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No Country for Old Men
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4.17 avg rating — 237,073 ratings
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| 6 |
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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by
4.26 avg rating — 100,322 ratings
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| 7 |
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Riders of the Purple Sage (Riders of the Purple Sage, #1)
by
3.75 avg rating — 14,502 ratings
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| 8 |
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The Grapes of Wrath
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4.02 avg rating — 977,344 ratings
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| 9 |
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Shane
by
3.95 avg rating — 14,510 ratings
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| 10 |
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The Sisters Brothers
by
3.85 avg rating — 102,026 ratings
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| 11 |
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Hondo
by
4.06 avg rating — 14,209 ratings
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| 12 |
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East of Eden
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4.43 avg rating — 611,624 ratings
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| 13 |
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Little Big Man
by
4.27 avg rating — 8,736 ratings
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| 14 |
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The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 653,613 ratings
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| 15 |
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The Crossing (The Border Trilogy, #2)
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4.16 avg rating — 45,989 ratings
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| 16 |
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Old Yeller
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4.10 avg rating — 102,711 ratings
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| 17 |
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Butcher's Crossing
by
4.18 avg rating — 32,987 ratings
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| 18 |
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Streets of Laredo (Lonesome Dove, #2)
by
4.10 avg rating — 24,531 ratings
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| 19 |
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Angle of Repose
by
4.24 avg rating — 61,507 ratings
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| 20 |
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Appaloosa (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 9,164 ratings
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| 21 |
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Brokeback Mountain
by
4.02 avg rating — 50,564 ratings
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| 22 |
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The Virginian
by
3.91 avg rating — 9,840 ratings
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| 23 |
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Dead Man's Walk (Lonesome Dove, #3)
by
4.06 avg rating — 22,996 ratings
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| 24 |
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How the West Was Won
by
4.06 avg rating — 3,636 ratings
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| 25 |
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Comanche Moon (Lonesome Dove, #4)
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4.14 avg rating — 19,835 ratings
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| 26 |
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Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier
by
4.23 avg rating — 66,766 ratings
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| 27 |
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Of Mice and Men
by
3.89 avg rating — 2,772,051 ratings
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| 28 |
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My Ántonia
by
3.84 avg rating — 145,573 ratings
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| 29 |
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The Big Sky (The Big Sky, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 5,669 ratings
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| 30 |
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The Ox-Bow Incident
by
3.87 avg rating — 6,564 ratings
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| 31 |
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Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy, #3)
by
4.13 avg rating — 30,938 ratings
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| 32 |
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The Quick and the Dead
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6,607 ratings
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| 33 |
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O Pioneers!
by
3.90 avg rating — 57,633 ratings
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| 34 |
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Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3)
by
4.21 avg rating — 299,966 ratings
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| 35 |
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The Horse Whisperer
by
3.86 avg rating — 60,975 ratings
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| 36 |
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Death Comes for the Archbishop
by
3.97 avg rating — 42,218 ratings
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| 37 |
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The Searchers
by
4.21 avg rating — 4,091 ratings
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| 38 |
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The Daybreakers (The Sacketts, #6)
by
4.27 avg rating — 8,633 ratings
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| 39 |
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Centennial
by
4.26 avg rating — 44,679 ratings
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| 40 |
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Dances with Wolves
by
4.23 avg rating — 28,722 ratings
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| 41 |
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Warlock (Legends West, #1)
by
4.28 avg rating — 4,446 ratings
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| 42 |
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Sackett's Land (The Sacketts, #1)
by
4.16 avg rating — 14,193 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Son
by
Philipp Meyer (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 37,398 ratings
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| 44 |
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The Whip
by
Karen Kondazian (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 7,634 ratings
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| 45 |
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The Way West (The Big Sky, #2)
by
3.96 avg rating — 5,808 ratings
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| 46 |
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Comstock Lode
by
4.14 avg rating — 4,281 ratings
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| 47 |
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Doc
by
Mary Doria Russell (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 17,409 ratings
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| 48 |
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The Sacketts Vol 1
by
4.32 avg rating — 359 ratings
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| 49 |
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Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West
by
4.29 avg rating — 19,389 ratings
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| 50 |
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The Time It Never Rained
by
4.32 avg rating — 2,185 ratings
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| 51 |
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Hombre
by
4.01 avg rating — 5,196 ratings
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| 52 |
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The Trail
by
M.L. Dunn (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 73 ratings
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| 53 |
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The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard
by
4.14 avg rating — 3,259 ratings
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| 54 |
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A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
by
4.19 avg rating — 29,822 ratings
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| 55 |
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Roughing It
by
3.87 avg rating — 10,136 ratings
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| 56 |
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The Blessing Way (Leaphorn & Chee, #1)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 31,095 ratings
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| 57 |
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Close Range: Wyoming Stories
by
3.99 avg rating — 18,202 ratings
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| 58 |
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The Nations
by
Ken Farmer (Goodreads Author)
4.31 avg rating — 438 ratings
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| 59 |
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
by
3.91 avg rating — 3,583 ratings
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| 60 |
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Ride the Wind
by
4.39 avg rating — 6,280 ratings
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| 61 |
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The Haunted Mesa
by
3.81 avg rating — 7,321 ratings
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| 62 |
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Plainsong (Plainsong, #1)
by
4.04 avg rating — 78,548 ratings
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| 63 |
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Resolution (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch, #2)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5,406 ratings
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| 64 |
|
The Shootist
by
4.14 avg rating — 3,029 ratings
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| 65 |
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News of the World
by
4.08 avg rating — 111,066 ratings
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| 66 |
|
Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories
by
3.95 avg rating — 2,831 ratings
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| 67 |
|
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69
by
3.99 avg rating — 13,828 ratings
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| 68 |
|
On the Road
by
3.61 avg rating — 441,388 ratings
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| 69 |
|
Yuma Gold
by
Steven Law (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 54 ratings
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| 70 |
|
On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, #4)
by
4.23 avg rating — 106,141 ratings
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| 71 |
|
The Good Old Boys (Hewey Calloway, #1)
by
4.34 avg rating — 940 ratings
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| 72 |
|
Fastest in the West
by
4.57 avg rating — 44 ratings
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| 73 |
|
The Revenant
by
3.96 avg rating — 53,783 ratings
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| 74 |
|
The Lonesome Gods
by
4.23 avg rating — 9,371 ratings
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| 75 |
|
Little Town on the Prairie (Little House, #7)
by
4.20 avg rating — 92,747 ratings
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| 76 |
|
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Little House, #5)
by
4.18 avg rating — 81,832 ratings
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| 77 |
|
The Legendary Wolf
by
Ammar Habib (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 5,249 ratings
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| 78 |
|
Jubal Sackett (The Sacketts, #4)
by
4.25 avg rating — 8,747 ratings
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| 79 |
|
Dancing at the Rascal Fair
by
4.24 avg rating — 7,111 ratings
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| 80 |
|
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Screenplay
by
4.29 avg rating — 545 ratings
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| 81 |
|
Love Medicine (Love Medicine, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 28,160 ratings
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| 82 |
|
The Day the Cowboys Quit
by
4.20 avg rating — 781 ratings
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| 83 |
|
Haunted Falls
by
Ken Farmer (Goodreads Author)
4.48 avg rating — 242 ratings
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| 84 |
|
Valdez Is Coming
by
4.06 avg rating — 3,337 ratings
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| 85 |
|
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
by
3.97 avg rating — 3,259 ratings
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| 86 |
|
Sackett (The Sacketts, #8)
by
4.26 avg rating — 8,830 ratings
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| 87 |
|
Empire of the Summer Moon
by
4.25 avg rating — 65,110 ratings
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| 88 |
|
Deep Creek
by
Dana Hand (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 1,129 ratings
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| 89 |
|
The Unforgiven
by
4.07 avg rating — 1,807 ratings
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| 90 |
|
Monte Walsh
by
4.36 avg rating — 814 ratings
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| 91 |
|
Brimstone (Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch, #3)
by
4.04 avg rating — 5,186 ratings
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| 92 |
|
Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation
by
4.13 avg rating — 4,490 ratings
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| 93 |
|
Deadman's Fury (The Deadman #2)
by
Linell Jeppsen (Goodreads Author)
4.10 avg rating — 250 ratings
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| 94 |
|
Hard Land to Rule
by
Anthony Whitt (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 74 ratings
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| 95 |
|
Kilkenny (Kilkenny, #3)
by
4.11 avg rating — 3,174 ratings
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| 96 |
|
The Wanderers
by
Matthew Finneran (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 8 ratings
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| 97 |
|
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
by
4.13 avg rating — 4,053 ratings
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| 98 |
|
The Bounty Hunters
by
3.74 avg rating — 2,049 ratings
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| 99 |
|
Crazy Horse and Custer
by
4.22 avg rating — 9,151 ratings
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| 100 |
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The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
by
3.69 avg rating — 232 ratings
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1,362 books ·
1,487 voters ·
list created December 19th, 2008
by Ann Keller (votes) .
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Comments Showing 1-39 of 39 (39 new)
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message 1:
by
Nina
(new)
Dec 22, 2008 07:32PM
Of course I had to vote for "Unsinkable Molly Brown," as that was the name of our sailboat. nina
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That's an ecclectic selection of westerns. Like a lot of people, my introduction to westerns has been through movies and this has shaped my taste. Of course, most of my novels and film scripts are in fact westerns, even if they're set in places like Birmingham, the Black Country and Yorkshire mining villages during the strike.
I was very surprised not to see more Elmer Kelton!!!!!
deleted user wrote: "I was very surprised not to see more Elmer Kelton!!!!!"
I agree, its amazing!
I agree, its amazing!
Both "Angle of Repose" and a few books by Elmer Kelton are now on the list! :)
Surprised to not see more Cormac McCarthy, especially the Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain. Glad to see Blood Meridian is high on the list. McCarthy is the greatest Western writer, in my opinion.
"All the Pretty Horses" is on the list, too ... (currently #57).
I had to add Elmer Kelton's Hewey Calloway trilogy and Monte Walsh.
On the Road? The Grapes of Wrath? I can see where there's a case to be made to include Wallace Stegner and Tony Hillerman. But those two books ... and "spirit of the Old West?" Seriously??
This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)
Martin wrote: "This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)"Everyone can add books -- there's a tab up top next to "all votes."
Cold Mountain is not Western!! It is Appalachia - mid atlantic. Please fix.
What about "The Collected Stories of Wallace Stegner"? Many of them are connected and one is a novella.
mountain man needs re-filming; jeremiah johnson didn't do it justice!(john)
Maybe I have misunderstood the purpose of this list, but just because a novel takes place in the west doesn't make it a western.
True, the list is well defined at the top under the title. The owner of the list or a librarian can delete books that don't fit.
Don't get me wrong. I love On the Road, but maybe it doesn't belong in this particular list.
Brian wrote: "Don't get me wrong. I love On the Road, but maybe it doesn't belong in this particular list."I have to agree with you here.
Martin wrote: "This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)"I agree completely.
I am glad to see Westerns making a comeback. There are some really good new authors.
Valerie wrote: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West is a "Western?""I consider the term "Western" to mean fiction -- although the list maker didn't specify such. That certainly doesn't apply to Dee Brown's book.
How about "Plain Song," by Wright Morris?
Nina wrote: "How about "Plain Song," by Wright Morris?" You should add it if you think it fits the list Nina.
Thanks, I really enjoyed this list. I like the fact that the definition of western is kept broad, so that modern tales with spirit akin to the 'Wild West' are included. I'm still wondering about Steinbeck, though. Into the Wild, for sure; even todays Alaska is in the wild west!
I removed #134 Last of the Mohicans. It is an "Eastern", not a "Western". It took place in New York State and thereabouts.
Yes, but it was 'the West' then. And it ticks the right boxes. The Native and the frontiersmen, the clash, and sometimes harmony, of different civilisations, power exercised by remote eastern rulers, the potential and fragility of the wilderness, good versus evil and so on. Set in the times before the push for American independence, this book forms something of a template for subsequent Westerns. It might be too geographically literal to remove it, though I suppose some criterion of location must apply.
Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales is a set of five novels (available together in a two vol Library of America set) that follows the adventures of the hero, Natty Bumppo, from his youth in the Eastern forests to his final years in '"The Prairie" (published 1827) where he is dealing with Indians on the Central Plains (in his 80s!) and would be a good match for this list geograpically.
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